Professors Chris Smit and Lisa VanArragon will be making a presentation at Calvin about DisArt festival on Wednesday March 11 at 4pm in Spoelhof 150. DisArt will include international, national and local art exhibitions, a film festival, a fashion workshop and fashion show, dance performances, and many lectures, performances and discussions with artists, activists, and culture makers. The venues include UICA, GRAM, KCAD, Richard App Gallery, 106 S Division Gallery and Wealthy Street Theater. The festival is supported by the NEA, the Michigan Council for the Arts and Cultural Affairs, the Wege Foundation, Ferris State University, Disability Advocates of Kent County and many other organizations.

During the meeting the exhibitions and programming for the festival will be surveyed, questions will be answered, and attendants will be encouraged in volunteer signups. There are still many volunteer opportunities throughout the duration of the festival, in many different capacities from hospitality, to way-finding, to art installation, to gallery guarding, and more.

Students are encouraged to attend next week’s meeting, March 11, 4pm, 150 Spoelhof. If you are unable to attend, but would like more information, check us out at the festival website http://disartfestival.org/, like us on Facebook, and email us with any questions.

We celebrate with our alum Michael DeMaagd Rodriguez, graduating class of 2010, and his work with the Westminster Church project to renovate the spire and main roof of the building. To learn more, follow the link to watch a comprehensive video about different aspects of the project.

It recently came to our attention that Student Life was asked to cut $10,000 from the budget of student organizations and made a recommendation to do so partly by eliminating the entirety of the print budget of Dialogue, Calvin’s only journal of commentary and the arts.

As the editors of Chimes, Dialogue’s sister organization, we are appalled that this would even be considered, especially without a discussion in which alternate ideas were shared and proposed.

Leaving aside the discussion of how feasible it would be for a print magazine to move to an online format in less than a year, leaving aside the question of how a growing readership would be crippled by such a change, we are concerned that this recommendation calls into question whether Student Life considers the existence of Dialogue — and student publications in general — to be worthwhile.

We believe that our publications form a unique and irreplaceable part of the Calvin College experience. As student organizations, Chimes and Dialogue are unique in that we are not only run exclusively by students, but we also produce a product that can be enjoyed and shared by the entire student body.

Chimes facilitates communities and discussions both within and outside of the college in a way that no other student organization comes close to doing. Dialogue provides a unique showcase for student artists and writers and has provided a place to feature the work of students who later became professors, ministers and successful artists.

The existence of these publications, however, is contingent on funding from the college. Chimes and Dialogue — unlike many other student organization — are unable to exist and fulfill their missions without funding. Dialogue in particular has been pared, streamlined and cut so that they have had to go from four issues down to two issues per year. To ask for more cuts is not asking them to be more responsible with their funds, it is removing their ability to exist as an organization.

We wonder if the time has come to propose alternative structures that would prevent decisions like this one that are not in the best interest of Chimes and Dialogue.

We are not opposed to talking about creative solutions to meet the latest budget reductions, we simply feel that this recommendation shows how vulnerable Dialogueand Chimes are to changes that could end their decades-long legacy of sharing student voices.

As an organization whose very mission is to promote and value student voices, Chimesbelieves that the voices of the students who work so hard week after week and year after year should be considered in these discussions about the future of their publication.

Dear Calvin Students!!
Open Studio Night is a relaxed weekly gathering open to any artist, creator, or maker. We meet most Wednesdays in the (106) basement studio space to discuss, explore, and participate in art-making together. Bring yourself and bring a current project, handcraft, or artwork.

No current personal project? That’s ok. We have a store room of art-making supplies that you’re free to use!

Join us Wednesday, February 18, any time between 6 and 9 at 106 S. Division Ave. We’ll have tea and treats to kick off the return of Open Studio. See you there!

Dear Calvin Students,
Professor Anna Greidanus and her ceramics students look forward to the upcoming Meredith Host workshop at Calvin on February 27 and 28.

Also, Calvin College Center Art Gallery has the upcoming exhibition, EARTHWORK: Collected Clay from East to West on loan from four local collections. The collection can be viewed from March 23- April 25, with a panel presentation in the CFAC recital hall on Friday April 17 at 6:00pm. Reception to follow.

Finally, there will be a reception on Tuesday, April 21 from 7-9pm for the members of the West Michigan Potters Guild.

Dear Calvin Students!!
Open Studio Night is a relaxed weekly gathering open to any artist, creator, or maker. We meet most Wednesdays in the (106) basement studio space to discuss, explore, and participate in art-making together. Bring yourself and bring a current project, handcraft, or artwork.

No current personal project? That’s ok. We have a store room of art-making supplies that you’re free to use!

Join us Wednesday, February 18, any time between 6 and 9 at 106 S. Division Ave. We’ll have tea and treats to kick off the return of Open Studio. See you there!